❓ Mr. Wyatt questions the Treasurer on the allocation of funds from asset sales towards debt reduction, referencing previous statements made by the Treasurer. The Treasurer denies that any assets have been sold yet and reiterates the intention to use proceeds to reduce debt.
AnsweredQoN 562Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ASSET
SALES — STATE DEBT
562. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Treasurer:
I refer to the Treasurer's
statement of 28 March 2014 that there was ''no way in hell'' that
he would succumb to pressure to pump more money into infrastructure rather than
paying off debt.
(1) Now that the
Treasurer has succumbed to this pressure, what percentage of the asset sale
program will go into paying off debt?
(2) As the
Treasurer also stated on 13 May 2014 that he would look to cap debt levels,
what will the cap be?
(3) At the very
least, can the Treasurer finally tell the chamber where net debt will peak?
SALES — STATE DEBT
562. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Treasurer:
I refer to the Treasurer's
statement of 28 March 2014 that there was ''no way in hell'' that
he would succumb to pressure to pump more money into infrastructure rather than
paying off debt.
(1) Now that the
Treasurer has succumbed to this pressure, what percentage of the asset sale
program will go into paying off debt?
(2) As the
Treasurer also stated on 13 May 2014 that he would look to cap debt levels,
what will the cap be?
(3) At the very
least, can the Treasurer finally tell the chamber where net debt will peak?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) The Premier and I
have announced a series of assets. We have not sold any assets yet.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : You've booked revenue for doing it.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : No, we have not.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : Yes, you have, in the budget.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park, I call you to order for the first time.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : The
asset sales program was listed and quite clearly we did not identify the value
of those asset sales and clearly identify —
Mr B.S. Wyatt :
There is $200 million already in the budget.
Dr M.D. NAHAN :
That is land sales and that has been there for a long —
Mr B.S. Wyatt :
Yes, that's your asset sale.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park, I call you to order for the second time.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : We
announced an asset sale program. We identified some land, particularly some
land related to old hospital sites, and we announced a list of entities or
assets that we were going to sell. We are pursuing that; they have not been
sold yet. We did not have any identification in the budget for those and,
anyway, we are not going to until we get to the position of ticking off on the
sale. We made it quite clear that the target of these asset and land sales will
be to reduce debt, and that is what we intend to do.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : Pay
off debt, you said.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park!
Dr M.D. NAHAN :
There is no change in policy; it was clearly stated. If the member for Victoria
Park took the wax out of his ears, he would understand that. We are in the
process of working through asset sales. As the Premier said, this is stage one;
we will look at another stage and those sales will be used to reduce debt. I
might add that in the forward estimates, as the member might know, there is the
Forrestfield rail line, which we are in the business of fleshing out and going
to tender on. If we have any asset sales and if they are used to defray some of
the debt associated with the cost of the Forrestfield line, it will reduce our
debt.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Dr M.D. NAHAN : We
are reducing debt. We have not sold any assets yet. We will fund the
Forrestfield line and it will be a great policy. One of the things I have been
confused about when listening to comments about the Forrestfield line is that
these people opposite are against it.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park; member for Albany!
Dr M.D. NAHAN : We
will use the proceeds of those asset sales once we find out and get them to
reduce debt.
have announced a series of assets. We have not sold any assets yet.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : You've booked revenue for doing it.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : No, we have not.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : Yes, you have, in the budget.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park, I call you to order for the first time.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : The
asset sales program was listed and quite clearly we did not identify the value
of those asset sales and clearly identify —
Mr B.S. Wyatt :
There is $200 million already in the budget.
Dr M.D. NAHAN :
That is land sales and that has been there for a long —
Mr B.S. Wyatt :
Yes, that's your asset sale.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park, I call you to order for the second time.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : We
announced an asset sale program. We identified some land, particularly some
land related to old hospital sites, and we announced a list of entities or
assets that we were going to sell. We are pursuing that; they have not been
sold yet. We did not have any identification in the budget for those and,
anyway, we are not going to until we get to the position of ticking off on the
sale. We made it quite clear that the target of these asset and land sales will
be to reduce debt, and that is what we intend to do.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : Pay
off debt, you said.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park!
Dr M.D. NAHAN :
There is no change in policy; it was clearly stated. If the member for Victoria
Park took the wax out of his ears, he would understand that. We are in the
process of working through asset sales. As the Premier said, this is stage one;
we will look at another stage and those sales will be used to reduce debt. I
might add that in the forward estimates, as the member might know, there is the
Forrestfield rail line, which we are in the business of fleshing out and going
to tender on. If we have any asset sales and if they are used to defray some of
the debt associated with the cost of the Forrestfield line, it will reduce our
debt.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Dr M.D. NAHAN : We
are reducing debt. We have not sold any assets yet. We will fund the
Forrestfield line and it will be a great policy. One of the things I have been
confused about when listening to comments about the Forrestfield line is that
these people opposite are against it.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park; member for Albany!
Dr M.D. NAHAN : We
will use the proceeds of those asset sales once we find out and get them to
reduce debt.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.